Posts Tagged ‘health insurance’

Over the past year, as the world has embraced GLP-1 medicines like semaglutide for obesity, we have heard much speculation about dire prospects for the future of metabolic surgery. Stock prices dropped earlier this year for medical device companies with big investments in bariatric surgery when Intuitive Surgical announced they were seeing a slowdown in […]

One of the big trends for this year will be increasing access to obesity care. That means more and more employers will be adding obesity care to the their health benefit plans. Yes, there will be much squawking about the list price for advanced obesity medicines. That’s perfectly normal and good. But the fact is […]

This was a year of great progress in obesity, and with that progress came frustrations and angst. So finding the best and worst of 2023 in obesity and health is actually quite an easy and interesting task. Let’s dig right in. #1 Best: Cardiovascular Outcomes Benefit Data for Semaglutide Above all else the landmark findings […]

New research from the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation offers a pretty clear picture. The research team sums it up succinctly. “Medicare doesn’t cover obesity drugs, but 76% of older adults think it should.” Yes, public pressure is building for access to obesity medicines. Survey Research of Adults 50 to 80 […]

It is mildly entertaining to watch people squirm as new obesity medicines disrupt their presumptions about obesity and its treatment. Of course, this squirming comes in many different forms. One expression of it is dismay that many people don’t keep taking obesity meds after a year. “Until compliance for these medications increases,” we’re not going […]

The Zepbound brand of tirzepatide is now available in U.S. pharmacies. This is a big deal because this launch marks the emergence of serious competition for advanced obesity medicines. Even (or perhaps especially) in healthcare, money indeed makes the world go around and one of the best checks on greed is competition. So as Zepbound […]

Truly, access to care for obesity is a tough slog. Not that it’s easy for any health condition. Obesity really is a special case, where medical care that can improve a person’s health often lies just out of reach. Bias about obesity is part of the problem. Fear of mounting medical costs is another. But […]

It is frustrating. The list price of Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is more than a thousand dollars per month. Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) negotiate costs for this drug that brings the average cost down to an estimated $215,  but many folks get stuck paying the full list price, forgoing treatment, or paying a copay that might exceed […]

We have grown tired of the mindless repetition of a $1,350 monthly list price for Wegovy in endless news reports about the great expense of this very important new drug for obesity. Not because the drug isn’t expensive. But because that list price is not an accurate representation of what the drug really costs. So […]

Forgive us a bit of skepticism please. We are facing a jarring disconnect at ObesityWeek from the reality of medical care that simply can’t keep up with stunning progress in obesity science. Scientists and obesity medicine experts are promising us a tantalizing future for obesity care while the present circumstances facing real people living with […]